I Recorded Richard Lewis, With His Permission …Of Course
This was at a special benefit organized by daughters of well-known comedians, to benefit a home for women in recovery, called “The Lenny Bruce Home”. Most of the audience were people who came to see the strong line-up of performers; which were Bobby Slayton, Dom Irrera, Paul Mooney, and of course, Richard Lewis. There were groups of friends of the comics in the audience as well.
I am posting this video today, for a few reasons. One, it’s Friday, and I like to put something funny up on Fridays, when I can. The second reason is that I am planning to write some posts about comedy acting, since the networks have a lot of comedy shows in development, ready to produce. Comedy is not easy, as you must know. It’s a whole added-on layer, when you act. To say the very, very least. Most acting teachers don’t know how to be funny, and act. Almost none of them can be funny at all. If they are, they may not know how to translate that into teaching students; or they may be teaching a load of horse stink, if they do.
There’s some very wonderfully developed, dramatic acting techniques out there; and I urge every actor to choose one, and learn it well. There’s a reason that Stanislavsky and others after, developed such serious techniques. That’s great, because for any young actor, it’s easy to find ways to be a better dramatic actor. It does take commitment, but it is do-able.
Not so, for comedy.
There’s reasons for that too, that it hasn’t been developed. One of those reasons is what I told you about acting teachers already. The others could fill up at least a whole other article… I mention it only because I urge all students to be careful, when they hear a teacher claim to be able to teach comedy. Or when a dramatic acting teacher does so, when a student brings into class, a funny scene. It’s very easy to be taught some very wrong stuff, about comedy acting. That’s all I want to say: beware. It’s much better to have an acting teacher who knows their dramatic craft and how to teach it, very well; and doesn’t know comedy at all. Than one who claims to know both and is really not a master of either, as a teacher; or worse, teaches you some bad skills. You really do need to first, be a good actor, period. That is, to later be great, at comedy acting.
Not for stand-up, however. To do stand-up, you need to be born funny.
And then you need lots and lots of experience onstage, for which you need serious chutzpah to be able to endure. That is how stand-up acts are developed, and even stand-up ‘brands’; as well as good solid comic writing skills, comedy performing skills, and simple but-not-so-simple comic timing.
I can teach comedy; but I only do so with those who already have a great solid, acting technique in place, already. I also regard my ability to teach comedy acting too valuable to simply give it away, online. Sorry. But, I do have lots of basics to share about comedy acting that isn’t master class level or refined skills, but can be very beneficial.
Another reason that I posted this is: this video is Richard Lewis, onstage, in process. It’s not a memorized act, line-by-line, topic-by-topic with usual segues (seg-ways: it’s how a comedian bridges one topic to another). You can hear how he specifically chose material for this particular audience; he’s forgetting stuff, he’s adding to earlier stuff topics, later on… Especially, I want to point out how loose he is. Onstage, he’s at home. He’s been doing this for years, and it shows. He’s also amongst peers, and that may be contributing.
The obvious is, that Richard Lewis has an ease that you wouldn’t see in a younger, fresher comic. The stage is familiar turf to him. As is writing his material, and performing it. He’s got a long history of results, positive ones. He’s used to getting laughs, used to being a professional comedian. Used to performing, used to being the funny guy, and being in the spotlight.
It’s an interesting juxtaposition, Richard Lewis’s ease onstage, alongside his comic ‘brand’. (You know how I dislike that word, when actors are taught to sell their artistry as if it’s a kind of soap, but in Richard Lewis’s case, in the world of comedy, it’s a valid term.) His ‘brand’ is neurotic, worried, obsessive, keyed-up. And, for 30 years, his brand has been ‘funny’.
I’d love to hear your feedback after watching this. Comments are open, just click down at the bottom of this post, where the smaller words, called ‘tags’, are.
In the next post I’ll tell you about Richard Lewis’s special, and brand-suited, acting preparation before he jumps onto the stage.
Enjoy,
;~Dana
[This video should probably not be recommended to kids. ]
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Wow. A stunning example of some one fully engaged in the present moment, ready and available for whatever comes next.